1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a print control system, and more particularly to a print control system for controlling print in a print system comprising a plurality of printers linked by a network. This invention also relates to a computer program for causing a computer to execute the processing done by the print control system.
2. Description of the Related Art
A laser beam printer, an ink jet printer, a dot printer, a stencil printer, and the like are employed in offices.
The stencil printer works in a printing system different from that of the other printers. For example, the stencil printer requires a form plate (a stencil) and printers other than the stencil printer requires no form plate. In the case of a stencil printer, a stencil is made on the basis of image data which is read by an image read-out system or transferred from an external instrument such as a computer, the stencil is wound around a printing drum and printing is effected by transferring ink supplied inside the printing drum to printing papers through the stencil. Whereas, in the case of a laser beam printer, a photosensitive drum is image wise exposed to a laser beam, toner is caused to adhere to the exposed part of the photosensitive drum, and the toner on the photosensitive drum is transferred to a printing paper, whereby printing is effected with no form plate.
Since these printers work in different printing systems, the time and/or cost required to output one copy greatly differs from each other depending on the type of the printer.
That is, in the case of the stencil printer, the output time per one copy is shortened as the total number of copies to be printed increases and the cost per one copy is reduced as the total number of copies to be printed increases since it is necessary to make a stencil and to wind the stencil around the printing drum irrespective of the number of copies to be printed. On the other hand, in the case of the laser beam printer, the output time per one copy and the cost per one copy are both constant irrespective of the number of copies to be printed. Accordingly, the stencil printer is advantageous over the laser beam printer (or other printers) when the total number of copies to be printed (of the same contents) is large whereas the non-stencil printer (a printer which works in a printing system different from the stencil printer, e.g., the laser beam printer) is advantageous over the stencil printer when the total number of copies to be printed (of the same contents) is small.
Recently, great development of network technology has linked a plurality of printers with a computer or the like by way of a network so that the computer can transfer printing data to any one of the printers to cause the printer to print on the basis of the printing data.
Since the user who transfers the printing data generally selects the printer, it is necessary for the user to have a knowledge of features of the printers linked with the network in order to select a printer suitable for his or her printing job. Even if the user has a sufficient knowledge of features of the printers, it is troublesome to select a printer each time image data is printed.
In order to realize an efficient printing system where the user need not select a printer, there has been proposed, as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-81960, a system in which a printer is automatically selected according to the printing condition for the printing job. For example, the stencil printer is used when the number of copies to be printed is large, whereas the non-stencil printer, e.g., a laser beam printer is used when the number of copies to be printed is small.
In order to shorten the output time per one copy and to reduce the cost per one copy as the total number of copies to be printed increases in the stencil printer, it is necessary to print a number of copies at one time. That is, when a number of sets of copies, each comprising a plurality of pages, are printed by the use of the stencil printer, it is necessary to print the copies by page in order to shorten the output time per one copy and to reduce the cost per one copy as the total number of copies to be printed increases. Whereas, when a number of sets of copies, each comprising a plurality of pages, are printed by the use of the non-stencil printer, preferably, the copies are printed by set like page 1, page 2, page 3 . . . , page 1, page 2, page 3 . . . , page 1, page 2, page 3 . . . in order to save sorting labor after printing. When printing is made under an instruction from an application software installed in a computer, whether printing is to be made in a by-set mode or in a by-page mode can be selected though the by-set mode is generally set in the default.
Accordingly, when a stencil printer is designated as an output printer in an environment where stencil printers and laser beam printers are linked by way of a network mingling with each other, the by-set mode which has been set in the default must be changed to the by-page mode in order to efficiently make printing by the stencil printer. On the other hand, when a laser beam printer is designated as an output printer and the by-set mode has not been set in the default in the environment, the printing mode must be set to the by-set mode in order to save sorting labor after printing.
In the aforesaid printing system, disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-81960, where a printer is automatically selected according to the number of copies, the printing mode must be manually switched according to the selection of the system. That is, when the system selects a stencil printer, the user must manually set the printing mode to the by-page mode, which makes it infeasible to realize a system which allows for the user to constantly efficiently make printing without being conscious of which printer is to be employed and after all cannot save the user's labor.